Process of manufacturing bearings



y 1942- w. E." M CULLOUGH 2,283,218

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING BEARINGS Original Filed Dec.

INVEN TOP. W/Mdm E MC 67/1/00 fl e M 'J Q A TTola NE vs.

Patented May 19', 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,283,218 I rnocass or MANUFACTURING enemas William E. McCullough, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Bohn Aluminum & Brass Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Original application December 5, 1938, Serial No.

Divided and this application August 30, 1939, Serial No. 292,638

(Cl. 204-23) v silver and lead. The present invention maybe 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a method of producing bearings. I

An object of the invention is to provide bearings of great durability that will stand up under extreme conditions of abuse, such as inadequate lubrication. The invention also aims to provide a method whereby bearings of uniform excellence may be produced..

In carrying out the invention a bearing formed of an alloy which includes lead as a major com-- ponent is first given. a smooth finished surface by machining or' any other suitable finishing operation, and a thin layer of lead is then electrolytically deposited on the smooth finished s'urface.

This thin layer. of lead is ofhigh purity, is unbrokenby seams or joints, and

These and other objects and advantages of the invention -will become apparent as the description proceeds.

is firmly bonded to the underlying alloy.

used with either of these types of bearings.

The leadalloys of both copper and silver give quite satisfactory service under ordinary conditions, but the present invention insures an output of improved bearings having uniformly long life as well as the ability. to survive under extreme conditions of improper lubrication.

In carrying out the invention the bearing is first lined, and its inner surface is next given by machining, or any other suitable process,, a

While preferred methods of carryin out the process are disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it should be understood. that various changes may be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as herein set forth and claimed.

This application is a division of my co-pendi ng' application'serial 'No. 243,960, filed December 5, 1938, which claims the improved hearing as an article of manufacture.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an interchangeable bearing embodying the present invention.

In manufacturing interchangeable bearingssuch as are use in automobile and aircraft enand afterthey' have been suitably rough finished tour and with a diameter large enough to allow smooth, highly accurate surface conforming in shapeto the shaft surface but with a. slightly increased clearance allowing for the film of lead,

which is then electrolytically deposited on the finished surface of the bearing alloy. The thickness of the lead film, which is usually about one thousandth of an inch (0.001) is regulated so as to just take'up the clearance that was provided for it.

In the example illustrated in the drawing, a body III of lead-containing-bearing alloy has been formed, preferablyv by aspinning operation, on the insideof the shell ll, steps being taken to insure a strong bond between the bearing alloy l0 and the shell H. These bearings are usually formed in cylindrical or semi-cylindrical shape,

the surface of the-bearing alloy which is designed to carry the load is machined to a smooth accurate surface, in this case to a cylindrical confor the subsequent additionof'a film of lead.

, The bearing is then subjected to an electrolytic treatment suitable for. depositing on the smooth prepared surface of the bearing alloy a thin film of pure lead, preferably not over 0.001

ofan inch in thickness. The conditions of the electrolysis can be accurately controlled to pro-.

gines; it is well-known practice to provideabackf ing 'of some relatively rigid material, such as a steel, and to line the backing with a bearing material, such as the alloys of copper and "lead, known in the art as leaded-bronzes." In my e0 pending application Serial No. 231,101, filed Sep-.

tmber'22, 1938, I have described a bearing in duce'a film of lead of thickness predetermined to exactly compensate'for the excess clearance left when finishing thesurface of the body Ill. The lead film is illustrated on an exaggerated scale at I2 in the drawing.

Fig. 3'is a reproduction of a photomic'rograph' taken at a magnification of X-of part of. the section of Fig, 2, and illustrates thestructure of a bearing in which a thin film l2 of electrolytic lead is deposited on a layer Ill ofa silver-lead bearing alloy. In this view the dark areas l3 5 are the lead component of the silver-lead alloy,

which a backing formed of a copper-nickel alloy,

such as that sold under the trade-mark "Monel Metal, islined with a bearing alloy c mprising and the figure shows clearly that wherever the lead areas of the bearing'alloy "were exposed at p the plating surface the Plated lead united withthe lead component'of the'alloy to form a homo- I senecus lead mass. As the lead molecules are deposited they unite to form a molecularly continuous surface, and they also form a molecularly continuous mass with lead portions of the bearing alloy. The silver-lead bearing alloys may contain from 5 to 30% of lead, the remainder being substantially all silver, but at present it appears that best results are obtained with alloys containing from to lead, the remainder being substantially all silver.

Fig. 4 is a'reproduction of a photomicrograph taken at a magnification of 200x of a bearing in which a film [2 of electrolytic lead is deposited on a layer l0 of a copper-lead alloy, and here again it is evident that the electrolytic lead has united homogeneously with lead portions II of the copper-lead alloy. Satisfactory bearings may be made from copper lead alloys containing from 15 to 50% of lead.

Fig. 2 illustrates a typical relation of bearing to shaft according to this invention for aircraft motors. In such motors a typical bearing of average size is at present designed to have a clearance of three thousandths (0.003) of an inch on a side, which clearance is shown at H between the bearing and the shaft l5. The film of electrolytic lead, shown at I2, is approximately one thousandth (0.001) 'of an inch thick, as previously explained. Y

When bearings made according to this invention are run in" under operating conditions in the presence of lubricating oil, they all'with practically no exception acquire the hard, glassy surface over the entire bearing area which is the sign of a good hearing. The hard surface results from the formation of a lead compound under the conditions of operation. The composition of this lead compound is not definitely known, but results prove that the presence of the thin film of pure' electrolytic lead insures the formation of this perfect surface condition on all bearings, whereas when the lead bearing alloys are used without the electrolytic lead film a certain proportion of bearings fail to acquire the desired bearing surface, and must be replaced after relatively short periods of service.

It has been found that bearings thus formed are able to run for extended periods of time without showing any appreciable signs of wear on the lead film. It has also been found that such bearings are able to survive .severe conditions of inade'quate lubrication such as might result from the fiiilure of 'the normal oil supply. It is believed that these superior operating characteristics of the improved bearing are due to the fact that electrolytically pure lead has very good wetting characteristics with lubricating oil, and hence it there is any oil at all available a complete oil film is maintained between the bearing and the shaft. Moreover even when dry, lead has a relatively low coefilcient of friction with steel, of which the shaft is composed, and hence the bearing can carry its load for a short period of time without critical failure after stoppage of the oil supply. 1

The present invention makes it safe to use a lining of pure, softlead, because the thin film of. lead lies over a finished surface of the underlying alloy, which surface is of itself sufliciently smooth to serve as a relatively efiicient bearing surface. Furthermore the thickness of the lead film is only a fraction of the normal clearance (one-third in the example illustrated in Fig. 2) between shaft and bearing. Hence should any extreme conditions develop under which the film of leadis squeezed or worn from the bearing, the underlying bearing surface could assume the load without a detrimental increase in bearing clearance, and the engine would be able to continue functioning until a repairstation is reached.

While the invention has been illustrated as applied to cylindrical bearings having bearing metal composed of silver-lead or copper-lead alloys, it should be understood that any variation of these alloys or any suitable bearing alloy containing lead may be used as a base for the electrolytic lead film. And it should also be understood it can be applied to any lead-containing bearing regardlesseof its shape, and that the improved bearings can be used in a wide variety of devices. a

I claim: V The process which comprises forming a bearing layer of an alloy containing from 5 to 50% of lead, forming a finished bearing surface on the bearing alloy, and electro-depositing on said smooth surface a film of lead not over approximately one thousandth of an inch in thickness, thereby producing a lead film which has a molecularly continuous surface and which is molecularly continuous with lead portions of the bearing alloy, the lead film being of uniform thickness and constituting a bearing surface without the necessity of any machining operations prior to installation.-

. v WILLIAM E. McCULLOUGH. 

